1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a dental flossing instrument. Specifically, the subject invention relates to an instrument for manipulating dental floss to allow a user to simultaneously floss the rear and sides of a tooth to be cleaned.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Flossing between teeth is an accepted practice for cleaning between the teeth and gums to reduce the incidence of tooth and gum disease. Typically, the dental floss is held in tension between an individual's fingers and placed between adjacent teeth. With the floss so positioned between the teeth, it is repeatedly moved up and down between the side of the tooth and the adjacent gum to remove plaque and other debris.
This manual procedure has been supplanted by certain prior art devices which hold the dental floss in the tensioned position for the user. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,328 to Ray issued Jun. 13, 1978 discloses such an instrument. The instrument shown holds the dental floss in tension between spaced apart prongs on one end thereof. The prongs are inserted into the mouth such that the floss is placed between the sides of the adjacent teeth. The instrument is then reciprocated up and down to move the floss in a manner to clean between only one side surface of the tooth and the adjacent gum.
Other flossing devices are known for simultaneously cleaning between opposite sides of a tooth and the adjacent gum. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,978 to Withers issued Sep. 20, 1983 discloses a flossing device having a pair of spaced apart prongs for holding two, parallel lengths of dental floss between each pair of prongs. The prongs are inserted into the user's mouth and the dental floss is located adjacent the tooth side to be cleaned. The handle is then released allowing the dental floss to be tensioned around the opposite sides of the tooth to be cleaned.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,062 to Grollimund et al issued May 23, 1989 discloses a device for simultaneously cleaning sides of adjacent teeth simultaneously. The device allows the sides of two different adjacent teeth to be simultaneously cleaned with dental floss.
The prior art flossing devices described above are deficient in that they are limited to cleaning, at the most, only two sides of the same tooth or different teeth at a time. Each device requires a number of lengths of floss corresponding to the number of tooth surfaces to be cleaned. The construction of such flossing devices is thus quite complex (e.g. requiring two pairs of prongs) and costly. Moreover, the prior art flossing devices are not adapted for cleaning between the back or rear of the tooth and adjacent gum where accessibility is limited and difficult.